The word among prospective out-of-state students is that getting in to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is more difficult than getting in to Harvard-and right now that's not far from the truth.
Members of the North Carolina Board of Governors, however, have proposed raising the percentage of out-of-state students UNC-system schools are allowed to admit from 18 to 22 percent, the first such move since 1986.
All 16 UNC campuses are under the auspices of the Board of Governors and are therefore obligated to adhere to the quota, although certain exemptions may be made for highly specialized schools such as the North Carolina School of the Arts and the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.
Despite its over-arching nature, the policy is directed at controlling out-of-state admissions at UNC-Chapel Hill, where 11,000 out-of-state applicants applied for 635 spots in the Class of 2007.
"[UNC-Chapel Hill feels] more of the pressure to bring in these high achieving students [from outside North Carolina]," said Gretchen Bataille, senior vice president for academic affairs. "The Board of Governors is looking... to find a way of doing this without depriving the students of North Carolina."
The proposal was discussed at the Board of Governor's planning committee meeting Sept. 11. The board will consider a draft policy when they meet in October and, should the initiative move to the next level, the board will vote on the issue in November.
"The support for the increase at the planning meeting was about fifty-fifty," said Willie Gilchrest, member of the Board of Governors and superintendent for Halifax County schools. "Some of our members did not think much of it."
The planning committee is currently pooling data on both the graduation rates and academic merits of in-state and out-of-state students. Gilchrest said the committee is also looking closely at the number of in-state students who met the UNC-Chapel Hill criteria for admission but were not admitted due to space.
"We're not going to do anything to jeopardize the position of North Carolina students," Gilchrest said. "We just asked the staff to get more data for us. That will help us do a better job when it is time to make that final decision."
Bataille pointed to the increasing capacity of UNC-Chapel Hill as one reason why the quota will not drastically impact the number of residents entering the university. "Our campuses are all growing.... That is why [proponents argue] that this will not be depriving North Carolinians of education," she said.
Advocates for increasing out-of-state admissions say that increasing representation from other parts of the country will provide in-state students with a richer undergraduate experience.
"I think the issue of interest is that the more variety and diversity you have in a class, whether it is geographic or ethnic or gender, the better the learning experience is for everyone in the class," Bataille said.
Yet, for most North Carolinians, the issue of increasing the out-of-state quota remains a contentious one. Undergraduate geographic diversity is not a selling point for those who feel that out-of-state students are edging out residents.
"There is more support to leave it at 18 then to raise it to 22," Gilchrest said. "People are very sympathetic to the students in North Carolina right now. They don't see the picture of higher standards due to diversity."
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